Akers and his partner, Liver-eating Johnston, built the Spitzee Post,
an early whiskey trading fort. The fort was destroyed by the Blackfoot
soon after it was built. Akers was a whiskey trader until the NWMP
arrived at Fort Whoop-Up in 1874 where Akers was in charge. He then
went into ranching with a partner nearby. He shot his partner a few
years later and ended up serving 3 years in the Fort Macleod jail.

Eleanor Bartelle nee Jones born in Magic District, Alberta to Mr. and
Mrs. John O. Jones. She married Jack Fowler. She joined the
Mart Kenny Band (Mart Kenny and the Western Gentlemen) at the Royal
York Hotel in 1936. She was with the Band for 1936, 1937 and 1938. She
resigned her spot with the Band when she became pregnant. She was
replaced by Georgia Dey from Edmonton, Alberta. She got her
stage name "Bartelle" from Jack Radford, Manager of the CBC, Vancouver,
BC. Jack Radford and the Mart Kenny Band were at the Banff Springs
Hotel for a CBC Broadcast when Mr. Radford suggested that "Bartelle"
would be a more colourful name than Jones. Eleanor Bartelle is pictured
with Mart Kenny and the Western Gentlemen on page 51 of Mart Kenny's
book "Mart Kenny and the Western Gentlemen" written many years ago.
Eleanor Bartelle died many years ago. This information is
courtesy of a conversation with Mr. Mart Kenny (age 90) , July 11, 2001
at Mission, BC.

John George Brown known as "Kootenai Brown" was born and educated in
Britian. He served with the British Army in India in the 1850's but was
attracted to British Columbia by rumours of gold and arrived there in
1861 where he worked as a miner and constable. Later he was a buffalo
hunter in Manitoba, then a pony express rider for the US Army. He was
captured by Indians and after his escape moved to Montana where he
married a Metis woman, Olive Lyonais. In 1877 he was arrested for
killing a fur trader at Fort Benton and was acquitted. Later that same
year he moved his family to Waterton Lakes, then known as Kootenai
Lakes. Here he ran a trading post and acted as a guide for many years.
During the Riel Rebellion he served as a scout for the Rocky Mountain
Rangers. He was instrumental in the Waterton Park area becoming a
National Park and served as the first park warden until he died in 1916.

Dave Cochrane came west as a Mountie and stayed after his tour of duty
ended at Fort Macleod. His first homestead was located in the Blood
Indian Reserve and when the Indians complained he left the homestead
but claimed improvements from the government and he received $3,500
from the Indian department for a one room cabin. His next homestead was
located on the Walrond Ranch lease where he also received
'compensation' for improvements. He was well known for his collection
of junk and old parts which he would sell if the price was right.

Senator Matthew Cochrane was the first of the big leasehold ranchers in
Alberta. He leased 100,000 acres of land from the government for under
one cent an acre. His first herd of 3,000 cattle arrived from Montana
late in the fall. After a hard drive and before they had time to regain
their strength, the ranch was hit with a hard winter and many of the
cattle died. Cochrane purchased another 4,000 head of cattle the
following year, 1882, but this herd fared no better and by the end of
the second winter Cochrane had lost more than half of his original
7,000 cattle. Cochrane decided to move his cattle south and leased
another 100,000 acres near what is now Waterton Park. The north ranch
was used for sheep and horses. The following year found Cochrane
plagued with further losses. Evenutally the Cochrane Ranch recovered
but by the early 1900's open-range ranching in Alberta was over.

Chief Crowfoot was born in southern Alberta in about 1830. He was known
by several names including Bear Ghost, and Shot Close. His courage as a
young warrior caused him to be made a chief of one of the Indian bands.
In 1870 he became one of the three head chiefs of the Blackfoot
Confederacy. The chief was a friend of Father Lacombe and Colonel
Macleod of the NWMP. It was Chief Crowfoot who influenced the starving
and diseased Blackfoot Indians to sign Treaty #7 in 1877, bowing to the
inevitable, he ceded the Quenn 50,000 square miles of fertile land. In
1885, Crowfoot convinced his tribe not to join the Riel Rebellion after
visiting Winnipeg. On April 25, 1890 he died of turberculosis at
Blackfoot Crossing.

Henry Davis, better known as 'Twelve Foot Davis' got his nickname when
he struck it rich in the British Columbia gold fields on a 12 foot wide
claim where he managed to extract about $15,000 in gold. In 1865 he
arrived in the Peace country and set up a trading post across from Fort
Dunvegan, the first of many along the Peace River. He died in 1900 and
was buried at Lesser Slave Lake but his friend, 'Peace River Jim'
Cornwall had his remains moved to Grouard Hill overlooking the town of
Peace River.

Jack Dubois settled on Big Knife Creek near Galahad when he arrived in
Alberta from the United States in 1902. Here, he organized a gang of
cattle thieves who stole cattle from the local ranchers and added them
to their own herds after altering the brands. In 1909, after an
intensive investigation by the Royal North West Mounted Police, two of
the members of Dubois' gang, the Holt brothers, were arrested
while he escaped. He was later arrested while trying to board a train
at Lacombe. The Holt's received a nine year sentence each while Dubois
got only nine months. The Crown appealed the ruling, the first one ever
appealed in Alberta, and the Supreme Court overruled the decision. At
his next trial Dubois was sentenced to five years. On appeal the
charges were thrown out and Dubois was released.

Bob Edwards arrived in Alberta in 1895 and started newspapers in
several towns including Wetaskiwin, Leduc, Edmonton and High River. He
finally moved to Calgary where he published the Eye-Opener, a satirical
and irreverant publication that arrived on newstands on an irregular
basis. The newspaper was a success and, despite his opinions of
politicians, was elected to the provincial legislature with no
campaigning. Edwards became ill and died shortly after his first
parliamentary session.

William Fairfield came to Alberta from Wyoming in the early 1900's to
farm. Until his arrival farmers in southern Alberta were unable to grow
alfalfa, a significant problem for early farmers. Fairfield, who had
been an agriculture professor at the University of Wyoming, arranged to
have a bag of Wyoming dirt from an alfalfa field sent to him. This dirt
was spread around his alfalfa field which produced a healthy alfalfa
crop the following year. Soil from this field was used on other fields
in the area. The Alberta Rail and Irrigation Company heard about
Fairfield and hired him to set up an experimental station to improve
irrigation techniques. This farm became the Agriculture Research
Station at Lethbridge.

Peter Fidler was born in 1769 in England and came to Canada in 1787 to
work for the Hudson's Bay Company where he helped establish Buckingham
House on the North Saskatchewan River. In November of 1792 he set out
with some Piegans to explore the prairies. He was the first white
person to take compass bearings on the Rocky Mountains. He discovered
coal along the banks of the Red Deer River. In 1802 Fidler was sent to
establish posts in the Athabasca and Peace countries. These posts were
Nottingham House on Lake Athabasca and Mansfield House on the Peace
River. Peter Fidler died in 1822.

In 1884, Dr. Leonard Gaetz, a Methodist preacher, came from Ontario
with his wife and ten children and were one of the first families to
settle in the area of the Red Deer Crossing. When the railway line from
Calgary to Edmonton was to pass through the area, Mr. Gaetz offered the
CPR one half interest in his large farm causing Red Deer Crossing to be
bypassed. Today this CPR crossing is downtown Red Deer.

Elliott Galt was the son of Sir Alexander Galt who was one of the
fathers of confederation. As an Assistant Indian Commissioner in 1880,
at the age of 30, he had the opportunity to visit Sheran's
coal mine, now Lethbridge. Realizing the potential of the rich coal
deposits in the area he had his father organize British investors who
formed the North West Coal and Navigation Company in 1882 after the CPR
decided to cross southern Alberta to the Pacific coast. Elliott Galt
moved to Lethbridge where he managed the NWC & NCo. They first
ferryed the coal by barge on the river, then constructed a railway from
Coalbanks (Lethbridge) to Dunmore on the CPR mainline. For many years
this company was the largest coal producer in the NWT. In 1905 ill
health forced Mr Galt to give up active management of the company and
he moved from Lethbridge.

Known as Silent Bill Harmer, he represented Edmonton in the Senate. He
is of Sussex England Harmer stock, the family came over to Kingston,
Ontario in 1836 and most of them finished up working for the rail
roads. William's line moved to Napanee, Ontario, just west of Kingston
- at age 19 he went west to Alberta, was the station agent at Canmore
when he married in 1895 or 1898. He eventually became deputy minister
for railways in Alberta - a big friend of Sifton. He had one daughter
who died young, his wife left him and she died in Victoria at quite an
old age. When Sifton came to power he put Bill Harmer into the Senate
around 1918 and he stayed there until 1947 when he died - he still
represented Alberta but lived in Ottawa and Napanee and seldom went
back to Alberta - much to their chagrin. He was called "Silent" Bill
because in all those years in the Senate he only spoke 89 words but he
was there for every vote and was a good member in that respect.

In the spring of 1921 a group of farmers near Medicine Hat arranged for
Hatfield to come north from California where he had some fame as a
rainmaker. Hatfield built a cabin and pair of towers near an alkali
slough called Chappice Lake. In May crops got off to a good start with
nearly 1.5 inches of rain. More rain fell in June but in July farmers
once more had dry fields. With criticism mounting, Hatfield accepted
$2,500, somewhat less than his original fee, and headed for home.

William Herron's Calgary Petroleum Products Company is credited with
the discovery of Alberta's first major oil and gas field near Turner
Valley in 1914. Herron was a rancher from Ontario who was interested in
petroleum geology and began exploration drilling near Turner Valley
after encountering some oil seepage in the area.

Louis arrived in the Grande Cache area around 1811 with his brother
Ignace and Ignace Wanyande. He had two wives and twelve children. In
1845 he met with Father De Smet at Jasper House and Louis, having not
seen a priest for nearly 40 years, had the father baptise his 36
children and grandchildren. Louis Kwarakwante, an Iriquois Indian, was
best known as a trapper, hunter, guide, and packer in the Athabasca
Valley.

Father Albert Lacombe was a party to most major historical events in
Alberta's history during the last half of the nineteenth
century. He was born in Quebec and ordained in 1849. That same year he
was sent to the Canadian west to minister to the Metis people, Cree and
Blackfoot Indians. His first few years were spent fravelling by
horseback and Red River Cart as the Metis made their annual treks for
the buffalo hunt. In 1852 he was sent to the Lac Ste. Anne mission.
Father Lacombe founded new missions at St. Albert, St. Paul des Metis,
Dunbar, Pincher Creek, Midnapore and Calgary. His mission field
extended from Pincher Creek to St. Albert, a distance of 300 miles
north to south. He died in 1916 at the age of 89 and is buried on
Mission Hill in St. Albert. The Indians called him an Indian name
meaning 'Noble Soul'.

1811?-1936
There are numerous history books that have mentioned Peocus in one form
or another, be it a direct quote from him, or the history that he'd
passed on . Peocus was considered to be an honest man , with very good
moral standards, as well as a religious man in his latter 50 years or
so, and became well known as a long time resident of Camrose.
Although Peocus had a colourful beginning in life as a paigan in the
Cree band, his latter years were very active in the church , and he
befriended many settlers in the Camrose area , who knew of him only as
"Pe-O-Kis". Peocus was born south of Fort Pitt, at Yellow Hill, about 2
miles north of the Battle River. His son, Louis Lapointe, was born on
the west side of Salt Lake, about 26 miles north - east of
Camrose. There are a number of Lapointe family members listed
on the interment list of Duhamel, that date back as early as 1886.

The old Indian was a freighter as well
as a hunter. The last buffalo killed by him was while on a freighting
trip from Edmonton to Winnipeg. On the twentieth day out of Edmonton
they were camped along the trail to the south and east of Nose Hill,
about thirty miles east of where Coronation now stands. In the morning
they spied some buffalo in a coulee east of them. The party including
Jack Norrish, Don McLeod, Joe McDonald, Ed McPherson and
Peocus, taking after them killing four old bulls and a two year old
calf. The group camped on the spot for several days, ate their fill of
fresh meat and dried the balance to serve them on their long trek to
Winnipeg. Some of the meat they traded at the forks (the junction of
the Red Deer and South Saskatchewan Rivers), to Metis' who lived there,
for flour , tea, sugar and other things needed for the trip. Peocus
made four such trips to Winnipeg with freight, leaving Edmonton with
the disappearance of snow in the spring and returning with the snow in
the fall.

In an interview with Frank Farley just
prior to Peocus' death, using Louis Lapointe as an interpreter, Peocus
mentions an occasion during his youth where he was included along with
a party of thirteen Metis' left their camp near Nose Hill and started
south on a horse raiding expedition. Passing about ten miles west of
Hand Hills and proceeding in a southerly direction they crossed the Red
Deer River, the entire party on foot. Finding a shallow fording place
and using a pole to support them in the swiftly flowing stream , they
successfully navigated the river and went on south living on berries
and the occasional antelope. All wore moccasins and they carried no
blankets.

After crossing several streams they came
to a large coulee where on the flats below they detected a number of
teepees but with no sign of life- no men, no dogs and no horses.
Staking out the flat for two days they eventually got up sufficient
courage to enter the camp. When they entered the camp they were
startled to discover men, women and children lying dead in their
blankets. They quickly rolled the dead off the blankets, folded the
latter and took off in a haste pleased that they would at least have
something to show for their endeavors.

Making camp that night at some distance
from the deserted camp, one of the group suggested that the deaths of
the band might have been caused by that dreaded disease , Smallpox.
Immediately the would be raiders tossed away their blankets and took
off in a haste for home.

Nearing a camp east of Nose Hill, the
raiders were welcomed by members of their own group who were about to
take off in search of the missing party. When informed that they may
have been subjected to the disease, the band treated the group with
well deserved respect. Unfortunately, eleven of the thirteen succumbed
to the fatal disease but Peocus who had become ill, recovered. It has
been mentioned that after recovering, Peocus had checked both the
Pretty Hill Camp, and the Lake Demay , finding both camps almost
totally wiped out from smallpox. Shortly after this tragic
episode, Peocus, along with twenty of the band journeyed to Brousseau
on the North Saskatchewan River where they met Father Lacombe and all
were baptized. Peocus was baptized with the name "Jean-Baptiste
Lapointe" about 75 years before his death.

Peocus lived at one time in his life in
a hut just north and west of the St. Thomas Church of Duhamel, along
the south bank of Battle River. He was a good friend and a faithful
follower of Father Bellevaire and lived in the small hut adjacent to
the one occupied by the Reverand Father when he first came to the
Laboucane Settlement. Their friendship is noted in many documents.
Peocus lived out his long life, of which is reported to be more than
125 years, in a small cabin north of the C.P.R. tracks in Camrose.
Peocus' son, Louis Lapointe, at the time of Louis's applying for his
old age pension, received a copy of his birth certificate, stating "
Louis Lapointe, born 1872, out on the prairie". Apparently Peocus and
his family were camped near Salt Lake at the time of Louis's birth.

In the article written at the time of
Peocus's passing, his sister, Marie- Rose Ladoux of Vermillion, is
mentioned as still being alive. Peocus passed away April 28, 1936 in
his cabin in Camrose at the age of 125 years old.

Baby Marian Leitch was one of the most miraculous survivals of the
Frank Slide disaster. She was thrown from the top story of her home
when the side of Turtle Mountain crushed the Frank community on April
29, 1903. A neighbor heard her cries and found her in a hay pile
several yards from the home where her parents and four brothers were
killed. Two of her sisters had been rescued in the hours after the
slide.

Col. James Farquharson Macleod was born in Scotland in 1836. In 1860 he
became a practicing lawyer in Ontario, then joined the military and
served during the Red River expedition. He joined the NWMP in 1873 and
led his troops to roust the whiskey traders and establish Fort MacLeod
in what is now southern Alberta. In 1875 MacLeod became a NWT
magistrate, shortly thereafter he was named a NWMP commissioner and
held both posts until 1880. Col. MacLeod continued his judicial work,
his district was the area of Fort Walsh, Fort Macleod, Fort Calgary and
Edmonton with courts held in other places along the way. In 1887 he was
appointed to the supreme court of the NWT and held this position until
his death in 1894. He had the reputation, to both white and Indian, of
always keeping his word.

Rev. George McDougall, a Methodist minister, came to Edmonton from
Ontario with his sons in 1862. They built their first Methodist mission
at Victoria and worked there until 1871. By 1875 they had established
the Morley Mission. Unfortunately he was frozen to death in a blizzard
near Calgary in the 1876. His son, Rev. John McDougall founded the
first protestant church in the Calgary district and imported the first
breeding cattle to southern Alberta to help finance his missionary
work. John died at Calgary in 1916.

Louise McKinney moved from Ontario, where she was born in 1868, to the
Claresholm area with her family in 1903. She was the founder and
president of the Women's Christian Temperance Movement and fought for
prohibition, social reform and women's suffrage. She is best remembered
as one of the 'Famous Five' Alberta women who lobbied to get women
declared as 'persons' under the British North America Act in 1928.

Mathew McNaught was one of the first white settlers in Southern
Alberta, building a homestead on land east of Willow Creek and
south-west of The Leavings, now Granum. He had previously
been running bull trains for I.G. Baker Freight, carrying supplies
between Fort Benton, Montana and Fort Macleod, Alberta until the
arrival of the railway in Calgary in 1883. In 1885, Mathew
was called into service with the Rocky Mountain Rangers, This group,
known as the "Cowboy Cavalry," was composed of cowboys, ex-mounted
policemen, ranchers, settlers and trappers who were banded together to
guard the ranch country and its inhabitants in the event that the
Northwest Rebellion should spread to involve the Blackfoot tribes or
the American Indian raiding parties. They contributed greatly
to the maintenance of peace and order in the vast ranch
country. Mathew later acquired more land in Porcupine Hills
for livestock and farming. Born in Scotland in 1849, Mathew was active
in community life and a member of the Masonic Order. He died
in Granum in 1925.

Michener was born in Lacombe and raised in Alberta. Graduating form the
U of A he received a scholarship to Oxford where he met and became
friends with Lester Pearson. Michener practiced law in Ontario and
became a provincial member of parliament in 1946 and a federal member
of parliament in 1953. He lost the election in 1962 and, after a few
years as commissioner to India, was appointed Governor General of
Canada by Prime Minister Lester Pearson.

Irene Parlby, an accomplished pianist who had studied in England
& Germany, was born in England in 1868 of an upper-middle class
family. In 1896 she arrived at the Westhead Ranch near Buffalo Lake to
visit a friend. she met Walter Parlby and they were married the
following year. Their first home was a sod shack. In 1913 she joined
the Women's Club in Alix, this later became the United Farm Women of
Alberta Local #1, where she served as president until 1919. For the
next two years she was on the Board of Governors of the University of
Alberta. In 1921 she was nominated as a candidate in the Lacombe
constituency and won the seat becoming the second woman in the history
of the British Commonwealth to have such a position. She became one of
the 'Famous Five' who, in 1929, fought to have women delcared as
persons by the Supreme Court. In 1930 she was part of the Canadian
delegation to the League of Nations. Mrs Parlby died in 1965.

Curly Phillips, born in 1884, came west from Ontario in 1908 and worked
as a packer for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The following year he
climbed Mt. Robson with Rev. George Kinney, although this climb was
never officially recognized as the first successful climb as they
missed the summit by a few yards. Phillips had never climbed a mountain
before this time. Curly, and the Metis he hired, guided tourist and
hunters into the remote areas of Jasper Park. In the 1930's he built a
boathouse at Maligne Lake and remained there until he was killed by an
avalanche in Elysium Pass in 1938. Mt. Phillips if named for Donald
'Curly' Phillips.

In about 1911, Emilio Picariello, a Sicilian who immigrated to Canada
at the turn of the Century, moved to the Crowsnest Pass area. The hotel
he owned in Blairmore became a front for the largest rum running
operation in southern Alberta when the province was 'dry' from 1916 to
1923. Picariello's son was shot and wounded when he tried to run after
being stopped at an Alberta Provincial Police roadblock. Hearing that
his son had been shot, Picariello who was in a separate vehicle at the
roadblock shot and killed an unarmed constable, Steve Lawson. He and
his accomplice, Mrs Florence Lassandro, were arrested for murder,
convicted and hanged at the Fort Saskatchewan prison in May of 1923.
This case, highly publicized, was instrumental in bringing an end to
the eight years of prohibition in Alberta.

Peter Pond was born in Conneticutt in 1740 and came to Canada about
1775 after serving in the British Colonial army, the French and Indian
Wars, and having various adventures abroad. He was the first white man
to cross the 12 mile Methy Portage and go down the Clearwater and
Athabasca Rivers. Pond established the first trading post in what is
now Alberta about 30 miles from Lake Athabasca on the Athabasca River.
Peter Pond sold his interest in the North West Company and left Canada
forever in 1790. He spent the rest of his years adventuring along the
Mississippi, then returned to Connecticutt where he died in 1807.

Jerry Potts was born in about 1840 to a Scottish and Blood Indian
ancestry. He was a Metis guide and plainsman, with an uncanny sense of
direction, who led the Northwest Mounted Police to Fort Whoop-Up from
Fort Benton, Montana. He also picked the location for the first NWMP
post, called Fort Macleod. Potts was buried at Fort Macleod with full
honors in 1896 having served with the NWMP for 22 years and being given
the rank of special constable.

John Rowand was born in Montreal in 1789. In 1803 he began to work as
an apprentice for the North West Company. By 1821 he was Chief Trader
at Rocky Mountain House. He pioneered the Fort Assiniboine - Fort
Edmonton Trail and he was appointed, by Governor George Simpson, as
Chief Factor of the Saskatchewan District at Fort Edmonton from 1826
until 1854 when he died. Rowand died on a trip to Fort Pitt when he
tried to break up a brawl between his boatmen. He was buried at Fort
Pitt until Governor Simpson learned of his wish to be buried in
Montreal. His remained were exhumed, rendered of all flesh, packaged
and taken to Governor Simpson at Norway House where he took charge of
the package. Rowands remains were repacked at the Red River Settlement
and sent on to York Factory where they were placed on a ship for
England. Four years after his death, in 1858, he was finally buried in
the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.

Rev. Robert Rundle, the pioneer missionary, reached Edmonton House in
September of 1840, from there he went to Rocky Mountain House where he
arrived in February of 1841. In April of 1841, Mr. Rundle camped at the
foot of Cascade Mountain in Banff for over a month. Rundle Mountain was
named in honor of this missionary trek.

Premier of Alberta 1905-1910
Alexander Cameron Rutherford became Alberta's first premier in 1905
when Alberta became a province of Canada. His liberal party took 23 of
25 seats in this first election. Mr. Rutherford was born in Ontario of
Scottish parents and educated at McGill University. After practicing
law in Ottawa and Kemptville Ontario he moved to Strathcona in 1895. In
1902 he was elected speaker of the Territorial Assembly. In 1910
Rutherford resigned as premier after a prolonged debate about the
controversial railway policy. His major accomplishment was his work to
establish the University of Alberta in 1907 where he served as
chancellor from 1927 until his death in 1941.

Sitting Bull, along with 500 Sioux, arrived in Canada after the Sioux
Indians he and Crazy Horse were leading, killed General George Custer
and his 265 men at the Battle of Little Big Horn. He had fled over the
Canadian border where they would be safe from the US army. Over the
next five years the NWMP managed to keep the Sioux warriors under
control. In 1879 the government decided that the Sioux were 'American
Indians', although they had historically ranged back and forth across
the 49th parallel and worked toward having them ousted from Canada. The
Canadian government refused to sign any treaties with the Sioux and
would give them no land or food. Finally, in 1881, Sitting Bull led his
starving people south. Nine years later Sitting Bull and eight of his
followers were killed resisting arrest.

David Thompson, surveyor and explorer, made the earliest detailed map
of Alberta. He was born in London in 1770 and arrived on the prairies
at the age of 16 to work with James Gaddy for the Hudsons Bay Company
as a fur trader and surveyor. In 1797 he left the Hudson's Bay Company
and joined the Northwest Company. At 29 he married Charlotte Small, a
Metis. She travelled with Thompson as he explored and had 13 children.
His base became Rocky Mountain House as he began to search for a route
to the Pacific. Between 1807 and 1812 he surveyed the Kootenay and
Columbia Rivers and established posts. David Thompson died in 1857.

John Ware was born to slavery in about 1850 on a cotton plantation in
South Carolina. At the end of the Civil War he moved to Texas and
learned to ride a horse and drive cattle. Ware joined a cattle drive to
move a herd of Texas longhorns to Montana. In 1882 Tom Lynch persuaded
Ware and his friend, Bill Moody, to come to Canada and work on the Bar
U Ranche near the Highwood River. He earned a reputation as a horseman
by riding the worst bucker in the remuda, then became even more famous
as he tracked down some rustlers and brought them back to the ranch. He
worked for other ranches in southern Alberta before he started his own
on Sheep Creek, near Millarville. In 1892 he married the daughter of a
black farmer from Ontario and in 1903 he moved north of Brooks on the
Red Deer River near the town of Dutchess. John's wife died in 1905 and,
a short time later, he was killed when his horse rolled on him after a
fall.

Tom Wilson, in 1881, at the age of 22 years, was the only person to
volunteer to accompany Major A.B. Rogers to explore Kicking Horse Pass
for the CPR and to try to find Roger's nephew, Albert, who had gotten
lost. Wilson's fame began with his finding Albert four days after he
and Rogers left their Bow Valley camp. Such discoveries as Lake Louise,
Marble Canyon and Emerald Lake are credited to Tom Wilson. Wilson began
operating a outfitting business in Banff in 1885 and for 25 years he
was an outfitter and guide.

Vina Fay Wray was born September 15, 1907 in Alberta, Canada. Fay Wray
made her film debut in Gasoline Love (1923), but it was her lead role
in The Wedding March (1928) that made her a star. She became a cult
figure after here role in King Kong (1933), as the beauty captured by a
giant gorilla. Fay starred in many other productions, opposite such
leading men as Gary Cooper, Ronald Colman, Fredric March, William
Powell, and Richard Arlen. In 1942 she married screenwriter Robert
Riskin and retired from the screen. She made a comeback in the 50s,
before she finally retired in 1958.